Sapients! - The Sentient Snake

This concept is part of a small-scale project, tentatively called "Sapients!", which Cheetanzee (formerly known as Chimpeetah) and I are currently working on.


With their elongated, limbless bodies, articulated jaws and double proboscises, these species of sophont are among the weirdest in the whole galaxy. These bizarre creatures are native to an equally bizarre world. Like most of the known sapients, the sentient snakes live in a terraformed, extra-solar planet. This terraformed planet was intentionally seeded with a particular set of organisms, and its biosphere was engineered in such a way that ophidians would successfully occupy the dominant ecological niches. However, the purpose of this project, as well as the identity of those who set it in motion, remains unknown. The result was an outlandish scenario: all sorts of creatures came out to be, from beaked herbivores with long, stiff necks and giant predatory forms with retractable jaws and covered with filamentous integument, to sluggish, huge tundra inhabitants and mosasaur-like sea leviathans.

The ancestors of the sentient snake were social and burrowing species, filling a niche similar to that of meerkats or prairie dogs. The characteristic double-proboscis and double-jaws were inherited from these burrowing ancestors, and were used by them for digging and manipulating all sorts of things. Lower mandibles are almost completely unattached from each other and they can be moved independently. The “double proboscis” is composed by a pair of worm-like appendages protruding from the snout. These appendages are chambered in their inside; while moving them, blood is irrigated into those chambers, and special muscles and sinews drive the motion. Along with the mandibles the proboscises form the only grasping organ of the sentient snake, working together as some kind of “hand”.
Like many other snakes from this terraformed world, the sentient snake has the ability to lift the front part of its body, an adaptation inherited from its ancestors, which needed to look out over the grass to detect predators. To sustain the massive head, a set of muscles and strong nerves are placed along the front part of the body. Also at the basis of the uplifted body a pair of keratinous stalks assist on its support.


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Concepts designed so far: 

Sentient Slug: fav.me/d54zip8
Sentient Clam: fav.me/d54zgt2
Sentient Chelonian: electreel.deviantart.com/art/S…